Bringing the ‘unaffordable luxury’ of haircuts to the homeless

You know that feeling you get after you’ve had a haircut and you catch your reflection walking past a mirror? Like, “dammmmmmn I look good”? Well Craig Hollywood wants everyone to experience that feeling, even people who don’t have a place to call home.

Two years ago Craig hit up his mate, musician Ta-Ku, about how the pair could help homeless people in their hometown of Perth.

“We realised that the services that are being provided are essential - just food and clothing and shelter, things like that. But things like personal appearance isn’t going to be high up on people’s radars,” Craig told Hack.

“We thought there was a bit of a gap in the service sector for this kind of thing.”

So they set up Short Back and Sidewalks, a project that connects professional barbers and hairdressers with people who have fallen on hard times.

‘It can build confidence’

Though haircuts are considered an “unaffordable luxury” for a lot of homeless people, Craig says they can do wonders for self-esteem.

“To get a free haircut is a very simple act, but it is something that will hopefully help people and be part of the process of restructuring their lives,” he said.

It can build confidence but can also engage with other people.”

Craig said it can help homeless people prepare for big events in their lives, too.

“A lot of the clients we have are people who are quite possibly going for interviews for jobs, or quite possibly going for interviews for housing, also things like people going to court,” he said.

“They’ve felt a lot better about going into these situations, or been given more confidence.”